By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

ISLAND Luck CEO Sebas Bastian yesterday criticised the “bizarre” suggestion by FML Group of Companies CEO Craig Flowers that the government should regulate the proliferation of numbers houses, charging that Mr Flowers is attempting to “level the playing field for self interest”.

Mr Bastian, in a statement, said Mr Flowers’ suggestion to limit the number of outlets for each operator is “outright nonsensical” and “flawed”, dubbing it an attempt by FML CEO to influence regulatory changes for personal benefit. 

Stating that there are many contributing factors to being successful besides the number of locations, Mr Bastian stressed that the number of locations any one operator decides to open is “an internal business decision based on demand and financial sustainability”.

 Ultimately, Mr Bastian said he is content with the Gaming Board’s “current regulatory oversight and zoning plans,” which, he said, puts the government agency “on the right path in building a sustainable industry and a reliable source of tax revenue to enhance the growth of our country.”

Earlier this month, Mr Flowers, a pioneer in the gaming industry, questioned when the government would start to do more to regulate the “proliferation” of numbers houses in the country, which he said has “quadrupled” since provisional licences were awarded to eight companies last year. 

Mr Flowers suggested at the time that the government has not been as responsive on the issue of clamping down on the proliferation of webshops. 

“There’s a proliferation of stores all over the country and there is no indication that the government will ever put a stop on it,” Mr Flowers said at the time. “Of course, the more stores we open, the more money we have to pay. The intent of web shops is to raise funds so perhaps that’s why we’ve heard nothing. There’s nothing in place to stop you from building more web shops.”

In response, however, Mr Bastian said Mr Flowers’ statements “leaves one to question his motive behind such a bizarre request.”

Mr Bastian used the comparison between John S. George’s multiple locations (now closed) and Kelly’s Home Centre, which still has one location. Mr Bastian said based on the number of locations John S. George had, one would assume that it had “some type of competitive advantage” over Kelly’s. 

Kelly’s, however, has withstood both that presumed competitive advantage as well as the test of time, something Mr Bastian said showed that “Kelly’s proved that theory wrong.”

 “This industry is a fast evolving one and there are many contributing factors to being successful which are far more than the amount of locations an operator has,” Mr Bastian continued.

“I don’t support Mr Flowers attempting to influence regulatory changes to suit a personal agenda or benefit. As operators we all run our operations differently and some are able to be successful with smaller and others with large footprints. 

“Now that we have crossed the major milestone of getting the final licence, our focus at this time as an industry should be to get more problem gambling programmes going and also begin planning ways to broaden the ownership opportunity in this industry for all Bahamians to benefit.” 

He added: “The Gaming Board has done an excellent job in getting the industry to this stage in such a short time and I am confident with current regulatory oversight and zoning plans they are on the right path in building a sustainable industry and a reliable source of tax revenue to enhance the growth of our country.”

Last month, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, the minister with responsibility for gaming, said he shared Mr Flowers’ concerns, and that steps would be taken to further clamp down on the proliferation of web shops. 

However, Mr Wilchcombe said he is “satisfied” that the Gaming Board has made “tremendous progress in reducing the number of houses from 600 to around 400.”

Before that, Mr Wilchcombe had said that the government would place a moratorium on web shops--presumably halting construction of new ones during that period--although he said details about that had to be determined.